THE FUSE

I have cared for patients who refused crucial life-saving medical treatments and just wanted to leave the hospital. I told them that if they left, they would die. They didn’t believe me and insisted they would be fine. I tried to educate them about the risks and benefits of treatment. If they then fully understood, I would let them go. For those who still didn’t understand, I enlisted family members who realized that the treatment was in the patient’s best interests. Usually, they persuaded the patient to stay and get well, but these efforts often took several days.